MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — By linebacker Jordyn Brooks' estimation, the Miami Dolphins' defensive improvement was only a matter of time.
That unit had a terrible start to the season, giving up 32.3 points and 145 yards rushing per game entering Week 4. There were several reasons for that: Miami was playing with a couple of rookie defensive tackles and several late offseason additions who were still adjusting to a new system.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel stressed the need for patience as that unit worked on building cohesion, and the result has been evident over the past several weeks.
Since Week 10, the Dolphins’ defense has looked like an entirely different group and has powered Miami (6-7) to a four-game winning streak that has helped keep its playoff hopes alive. In Sunday’s 34-10 win over the New York Jets, the Dolphins gave up just 65 yards rushing, had a season-high six sacks, three takeaways and allowed just one third-down conversion in 12 attempts.
“Belief,” said Brooks, who leads the NFL with 142 tackles. “You can say we practice harder, but we always practice hard. We practiced hard when we were losing. I think the guys work hard, so I don’t think any of it is the work, the main focus is belief. Me, myself, it’s something that I pride myself on. It’s belief.”
The Dolphins have allowed just 13.3 points per game during their four-game winning streak, which is the first time in the last 15 seasons that Miami has not surrendered more than 17 points in four straight games. They also have 10 takeaways and a plus-7 turnover margin since Week 10, the best mark in the NFL during that span.
“I think that ratio is so defined by team effort, strain — the simplest things, but the hardest things,” McDaniel said. “And it’s really a collective effort ... I think our play style is leading to the takeaway margin, and we’ll need to continue that to hope to have the same success.”
That has carried the Dolphins even when their passing game has faltered over the past few weeks. After scoring touchdowns on the first three drives Sunday, the Dolphins punted on six of their next seven possessions, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for under 200 yards for the second straight week.
“I’m not surprised with how we’re gelling,” said linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who had an interception on Sunday. “Going to dinner together, carpooling to the team hotel, eating lunch in the cafeteria together. It’s just that camaraderie that makes championship teams. If we continue to do what we’re doing, positive stuff will come to us.”
McDaniel pointed to those player-led team bonding methods as things that have translated to the recent results on the field, especially after bad plays.
“The emotional regulation of the unit,” McDaniel said, “and the ability to handle all the ebbs and flows that come in a football game, I think that’s where you see all the investment from the defensive players really show its face.”
There has been a dramatic improvement in Miami's offensive line play over the course of this season, especially in run blocking. That has contributed to the success in the Dolphins' run-first approach. The Dolphins rushed for 239 yards against the Jets, marking the most since the team ran for 350 yards against Denver on Sept. 24, 2023.
Special teams. The Dolphins allowed Jets receiver Isaiah Williams to return a punt 78 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Sunday's game was the second straight week that Miami's special teams unit gave up a pivotal play — they also allowed the Saints to recover an onside kick in Week 13, which nearly allowed New Orleans to come back and win.
RB Jaylen Wright. After De'Von Achane left with a rib injury in the second quarter on Sunday, Wright stepped in and finished with a career-high 107 yards on 24 carries and his first NFL touchdown.
TE Darren Waller. After recording 10 catches for 117 yards and four touchdowns in his first three games of the season, Waller has been limited to three catches for 60 yards and no scores over the past two games.
Achane's rib injury likely won't cause him to miss time, McDaniel said Monday. Achane was available to return to Sunday's game in an emergency but was held out as a precaution. McDaniel said the running back will receive treatment this week.
192.3 — Miami's rushing average over the past four games, which is the most in the league since Week 10.
The Dolphins travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Miami Dolphins linebacker Tyrel Dodson (25) reacts after intercepting a pass against the New York Jets during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Miami Dolphins linebacker Tyrel Dodson (25) keeps the ball off the turf as he intercepts a pass against the New York Jets during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Miami Dolphins cornerback Rasul Douglas (26) intercepts a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver John Metchie III (3) at the goal line during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
ROME (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffirmed his strong refusal to cede any territory, resisting U.S. pressure for painful concessions to Russia as he moved ahead Tuesday to rally more European support for his country.
“Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, don’t want to give up anything. That’s what we are fighting for," Zelenskyy told reporters in a WhatsApp chat late Monday.
“Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we don’t have such right," he said. "According to Ukraine’s law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we don’t have a moral right either."
In an interview with Politico released Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump again pressed Zelenskyy to accept the U.S. proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Russia, arguing that Moscow retains the “upper hand” in its nearly 4-year-old invasion, and that Zelenskyy’s government must “play ball.”
Zelenskyy met with Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo, a papal residence outside Rome, and is to have talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later in the day. The Vatican said the pope “reiterated the need for the continuation of dialogue and expressed his urgent desire that the current diplomatic initiatives bring about a just and lasting peace.”
The Holy See has tried to stay neutral in the war while offering solidarity and assistance to what it calls the “martyred” people of Ukraine. Leo, who has met three times with Zelenskyy and has spoken by telephone at least once with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has called for a ceasefire and urged Moscow in particular to make gestures to promote peace.
On Monday, Zelenskyy held talks in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to strengthen Ukraine’s hand amid mounting impatience from Trump.
U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the Trump administration’s peace proposal.
A major sticking point in the plan is the suggestion that Kyiv must give up control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies have firmly resisted the idea of handing over land.
“You know, a lot of people are dying,” Trump told Politico on Monday, claiming that other Ukrainian officials that he identified only as Zelenskyy's “lieutenants, his top people” agree with the U.S. administration.
Other than Zelenskyy’s comments Monday, Ukrainian negotiators have said very little in public about the content of the U.S. proposal or their attitude toward it.
Russia, Trump reasoned, remains too powerful for Ukraine to continue fighting.
“I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the, you know, bravery and for the fighting and all of that,” he said. “But you know, at some point, size will win, generally.”
Trump also repeated his call for Ukraine to hold a presidential election even though martial law doesn't allow it and Zelenskyy, elected in 2019, had his five-year term extended because of the war. Trump's position on Ukraine's failure to hold an election mirrors frequent statements on the subject by Putin.
Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since winning a second term, insisting U.S. support for Ukraine was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Trump “certainly wants to end the war. ... Surely, he has his own vision. We live here, from within we see details and nuances, we perceive everything much deeper, because this is our motherland.”
He said the current U.S. peace plan differs from earlier versions in that it now has 20 points, down from 28, after he said some “obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed.”
Starmer, Macron and Merz strongly backed Kyiv, with the U.K. leader saying Monday that the push for peace was at a “critical stage,” and stressed the need for “a just and lasting ceasefire.”
Merz, meanwhile, said he was “skeptical” about some details in documents released by the U.S. “We have to talk about it. That’s why we are here,” he said. “The coming days … could be a decisive time for all of us.”
European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the U.S. to deter Russia from attacking again. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.
Zelenskyy and his European allies have repeatedly accused Putin of slow-walking the talks to press ahead with the invasion as his forces are make steady gains while waves of missiles and drones pummel Ukrainian infrastructure.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 110 drones across the country overnight. While air defenses neutralized 84 drones, 24 more have struck their targets.
Several regions of Ukraine faced emergency blackouts Tuesday due to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo.
Ukraine, in turn, continued its drone attacks on Russia.
Russia said its air defenses destroyed 121 drones in various regions and in the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In Chuvashia, a region about 900 kilometers (about 560 miles) northeast of the border with Ukraine, the attack damaged residential buildings and injured nine people, Gov. Oleg Nikolayev said.
Ukraine’s Security Service carried out a drone attack on a liquefied gas terminal at the port of Temryuk in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Dec. 5, according to an official with knowledge of the operation who spoke to The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the strike sparked a fire at the facility. More than 20 storage tanks were set ablaze and burned for more than three days, he said. The attack also damaged railway tank cars and other sites at the plant.
Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walks past Swiss guards as he arrives to meet with Pope Leo XIV in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, walks past Swiss guards as he arrives to meet with Pope Leo XIV in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walks past Swiss guards as he arrives to meet with Pope Leo XIV in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, arrives to meet with Pope Leo XIV in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Leo XIV wave to journalists during their meeting in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron at 10 Downing Street, in London, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)
